Cheerleaders are athletes.
A sport is defined as an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.
Cheerleading is not recognized as a sport in the eyes of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) or Title IX, but it fits all of the criteria to be defined as a sport.
Cheerleaders compete on national and world levels that thousands of people attend in person and watch either online or on ESPN. The “physical exertion and skill” portion of the definition is easily defined when a cheerleader steps onto the mat. Cheerleaders have two minutes and 30 seconds to effectively execute stunts, tumble across the mat at various angles and perform a dance with the sharpest motions as possible. All while maintaining a big smile across their faces.
How did it begin?
Cheerleading had its start in 1884, with the first official cheer being performed by Mark Peebles in New Jersey at a Princeton football game. However, it was not until 1898 that cheerleading was performed as a team activity. In that time, the University of Minnesota’s football team had lost three games in a row. School spirit was low, and the player’s attitude towards the game was even lower. Desperate for a solution, Johnny Campbell took Peebles idea and created a cheer to perform at the next game. The football team won that game and the school’s morale was lifted. Women started joining what started as a predominately a male sport in 1923 and eventually took over in the 40’s while most men were off fighting in World War II. Cheerleading has come a long way since its original start. From the basic pom pom waving era to the new intricate stunt sequences and acrobatic tumbling passes.
What is stunting?
Stunting in the cheerleading world is where a group of bases, or in some cases a single base, lift or toss a flyer overhead to perform tricks in the air.
This is the most physical aspect cheerleading has to offer. To properly execute a stunt, much like plays in football and basketball, the person performing them must be knowledgeable in them. If the person does not know what they are doing someone could get hurt or seriously injured. Unlike football or basketball, if a player misses a ball it’s no big deal, but if a cheerleader misses their flyer she can be seriously injured.
In 2012 while warming up stunts before the homecoming football game at Edinboro, I was injured on the sidelines.
We were just doing a simple extension, and my flyer did not hear the call to come down, so she just let her knees buckle and she came straight down. We caught her and she was fine, but my lip happened to catch her elbow and I was a swollen bloody mess. I thought I was going to lose my front teeth.
No teeth were lost during that incident, thankfully. However, if the flyer had been paying close attention to the people below her the whole incident could have been avoided.
Amanda Bowers, who is now a co-coach for the West Middlesex High School varsity cheerleading squad, had her fair share of injuries while being a Big Reds cheerleader.
“Once during my senior year, during basketball season we were out on the court performing a stunt where the flyer is up on one leg [known as a liberty] and the other two bases and I had to toss her up and she had to switch from her left leg to her right, which we call a tick tock. When she went to switch her legs her foot came crashing through my hands and landed right on my face,” Bowers commented. “We still managed to put her up and finish the stunt, and although I was not bleeding, my nose felt puffy and it was hard to breathe. When I got back to the sidelines I decided to get looked at by the trainer and it turns out that when she stepped on my face she broke my nose.”
Emma Hamm, a former Edinboro University cheerleader, was coming out of a stunt when she received her injury.
“I was twisting down out of a stunt and my group did not catch me high enough, so instead of being caught safely in their arms I broke through and hit the ground,” Hamm explained. “Thankfully, I wasn’t hurt too badly, just a sore shoulder and the wind knocked out of me and was hesitant trying that stunt again.”
The trust between a flyer and her bases is supposed to be strong. If bases do not know what they are doing, their flyer can get seriously injured. If the flyer does not trust her bases or gets injured, it will be harder for her to work with that group.
Tumbling
A tumbler is a cheerleader who specializes in gymnastic passes. This includes back handsprings, tucks, layouts, fulls and many other tricks one could do after being properly taught and perfected. All of which can have a round off added before them to gain more power.
Emily Chrisman, a former competition and Edinboro cheerleader, has been tumbling almost her entire life.
“I started tumbling lessons as soon as I could walk pretty much,” Chrisman commented. “Learning how to tumble was so rewarding and it helped me carry on my cheerleading career.”
Coaches have added tumbling abilities to their tryout forms to help choose who is allotted a spot on the squad.
“If a cheerleader can tumble, they are a huge asset to a squad,” former cheerleading coach Gayle Pratt stated. “If they are not placed in the stunt they have the opportunity to tumble in the front of it. Or, if nothing is happening at that moment, such as a time out, they can do a back handspring or whatever they are capable of doing instead of just standing there doing nothing. I liked to have a lot of tumblers on my squad whenever I coached.”
Being a tumbler requires physical strength and determination. You need to be able to take your entire body weight and flip it around in various angles, which is not an easy task.
“It took me about a year and a half to be able to do a back handspring all by myself,” Edinboro cheerleader James Tobin stated. “Since I’m so tall, have some weight to me, and began learning at such a late age it was harder for me to learn. But now I’m able to do a standing back tuck whenever I want to.”
Just like with stunting, accidents and injuries can occur when a cheerleader tumbles.
“During the Pink Out game this year I was injured while I was tumbling across the field,” Bailey Goldbaugh, senior nursing major and four year member of the Edinboro cheerleading squad, stated. “I was doing a round-off back handspring and when I went to put my arms down for my back handspring, my left arm buckled and all of my weight went onto my locked out right arm. I ended up hyperextending my right elbow and it was probably one of the worst pains I’ve had in my life.”
How hard is cheerleading?
As stated before, cheerleading has evolved from the simple yelling of words and bouncing around to elaborate stunts and tumbling passes being performed in front of thousands of people.
Stunting and tumbling are both physically demanding on the body, but new cheerleaders have a lot more to learn than just stunts.
“There are about 60 chants that I have to learn being a new member to the squad,” freshman Kali Wesolowski and new cheerleader for the 2016 basketball cheerleading squad said. “Some are difficult to remember because they all sound the same at first, but I know if I practice and really dedicate myself I will know them all by the next game rolls around.”
Wesolowski is not the only new member who feels this way.
“It’s definitely overwhelming having to learn so many chants in a short amount of time,” fellow freshman and new member Adriane Stuckey commented. “However all of the older cheerleaders are very helpful and are willing to go motion-by-motion for each chant.”
For some new members, this is their first time being a cheerleader.
“It’s definitely a completely different world,” freshman Jordan Thomas stated. “I have never cheered before so coming in not knowing the terminology that is used and starting from scratch was tough. My first practice I was placed into a stunt and as they were explaining to me what was going to be happening all I could kept thinking was ‘you want to me to do what?’ or ‘I’m throwing her how high?’ But after practicing it several times and being corrected I was able to execute the stunt perfectly. I felt very proud of myself and was impressed at what I can accomplish."
Cheerleaders do not get enough credit for all of their hard work. Sure, calling out chants on the sidelines may not be the most difficult thing in the world, but when it comes to stunting, building pyramids and tumbling that is where their athletic potential shines. Cheerleaders should be recognized as the athletes that they are and officially earn their title of a sport.
